"Now go... And never mock my sideburns again!"
— Mikuni, Duel Masters
Hot Bloodedness isn't reserved just for people. It can be applied to many things — hair, for example. Large sideburns, muttonchops, or earlocks are a variation on the beard, giving a character an especially grizzled appearance.
In the East, a short, fiery pair of earlocks is typically found on passionate Super Robot pilots and Sentai team leaders. While they don't have to be huge (though they usually are), they are always spiky and noticeable. Usually, they're paired up with some equally fiery eyebrows and huge ri-zento's (basically exaggerated pompadours) or other kinds of Shonen Hair for added effect. In its inherent association with Super Robot shows of the 70s and 80s, this is also a form of Seventies or '80s Hair, and its appearance on female characters to show how badass they are has nearly died out (but not fully, as Hibiki Tachibana shows). Its modern appearance on male characters is often in Homage to these earlier heroes.
In the West, larger sideburns and muttonchops have been considered fashionable during various times in history, including the 19th century, early 20th century, and the 1970s. Like Manly Facial Hair, the extra hair conveys strength and masculinity, indicating that the character is a hot-blooded and powerful individual. In modern times, particularly large muttonchops are considered retro or "scruffy," so expect wearers to be more than a little irreverent and wild.
Example subpage:
Other examples
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Comic Books
- Pretty much everyone in ElfQuest. This might just be the time period (the original series was published 1978-1984), or it might be Wendy Pini being unable to draw the bases of those huge elfy ears; the few characters from the original series that DON'T have these (Skywise, Winnowill) instead have some sort of accessory hiding that particular area. Elfquest's art style (especially Siege at Blue Mountain), owes a lot to The Dagger of Kamui (which was a manga and then an anime contemporary with Nagai's heyday, though not drawn by him). SABM also has some of the biggest honking 'burns in series history. Pini must like the look though; her early Law and Chaos Elric work has these on Moonglum (Elric not so much, though she did draw him with a goatee for a few scenes).
- X-Men:
- Though it was Depending on the Artist, Banshee was often sideburned. In the Age of Apocalypse, they were positively epic.
- Mr. Muttonchops himself, Wolverine, is pretty hotblooded to boot.
- Also sported by many of the male members of the Hellfire Club; an organisation dedicated to decadence (and world conquest).
Fan Works
- Evangelion 303: When she does not wear her hair tied back with her hair clips, Asuka's sideburns are very noticeable. They can be seen in this scene
, and they are every bit so big and fiery as Kouji Kabuto's, Ryoma Nagare or Kenichi Go.
Films — Live-Action
- Burt Reynolds' character in Deliverance has a pair of these that are like tusks, seriously. Not surprisingly, he's the tough guy of the group.
- Horror Express: Inspector Mirov has thick sideburns that connect to his mustache and is a firm, determined man who tries to shoot the monster, won't be deterred from important courses of action, and sometimes shows exasperation with Wells and Saxon.
- In the X-Men Film Series, Wolverine has some rather prominent muttonchops to go along with his rash personality. The Perma-Stubble brings it even further.
- Dom Hemingway: The title character is prone to vulgar outbursts and sports a pair of friendly muttonchops.
Literature
- In all his official portraits (rumoured to be pretty accurate in appearance, if not the situation) COMMISSAR CIAPHAS CAIN, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! always has a pair of pretty impressive 'burns. And quite fitting, him being largely an expy of Harry Flashman, a fictional Victorian officer, given that Victorian times were the peak of the 'burns popularity. On the other hand, Cain isn't in the least bit hotblooded (at least officially), being in fact a calm, calculating Guile Hero.
- Inverted in The Stormlight Archive, where the level-headed, jovial, pacifistic chef Rock wears long sideburns. They're a distinctive style of his people, who tend to look down on combat and prefer to resolve conflict with Drinking Contests.
Live-Action TV
- Doctor Who:
- The Fourth Doctor, one of the most hot-blooded Doctors of the lot, completes his 1970s-Victorian mashup style with a long, fluffy pair of sideburns. They're even a bright fiery red, in contrast to his dark brown hair.
- The Third Doctor, the one who was a master of Venusian Aikido and liked to scrap, also has a pretty epic pair.
- The Tenth Doctor, passionate about just about everything, has short hair but his sideburns jut pretty far into his face.
- In Oz: When the mild-mannered Beecher takes a level in Badass, he indicates his newfound strength by growing a pair of friendly muttonchops, giving him a much more fierce appearance.
- Men's hair in the Federation of Star Trek favors pointed sideburns. Not exactly hotblooded, but slightly warm.
- The Monitor from the Arrowverse events Elseworlds and Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019) has some pretty thick sideburns, which some characters in-universe have joked about. He's not very hot-blooded, though he is very powerful.
- The Goodies: Graeme Garden had the hair (our page on '70s Hair describes his sideburns as "two hamsters clinging to his cheeks"), but rarely had the hot-blooded personality to go with it (he usually played straight man to passionate and bearded Bill Oddie and campy and clean-shaven Tim Brooke-Taylor).
Podcasts
- Magnus Burnsides The Adventure Zone: Balance is the most reckless and physically-inclined member of the party, and Depending on the Artist, sports an impressive set of sideburns (despite Travis, his player, noting that he has a full beard.)
Theatre
- Subverted in Our American Cousin by Lord Dundreary, especially as played by the iconic Edward Sothern, who had long sideburns that he grew long and combed out to frame his lower face. The outlandish look became known in 1860s culture as "Dundrearies." Dundreary is anything but virile: he's effete, foppish, and also a dolt.
Video Games
- The King of Fighters subverts it twice with teenage soldier Leona Heidern and Mighty Glacier Maxima. The former is an emotionally repressed Little Miss Badass. The latter is a stoic, well-mannered Cyborg, The Lancer and Foil to his Jerkass partner K'.
- Played for humor in one Super Robot Wars Yonkoma where Shinji grows sideburns like Kouji in an attempt to make himself look tougher. (Did it work? Judge for yourself.◊).
- BlazBlue's Hot-Blooded Ninja Bang Shishigami has them, but since he's partially a Captain Ersatz of Ryoma, it's to be expected.
- Rival Schools has Hayato Nekketsu (yes, his last name means ''HOT BLOODED'') who sports quite an impressive pair of Nagaideburns.
- Resident Sexist Pig Ninja Andrew◊ of Vanguard Bandits has some pretty nice sideburns of his own. But the real master of the Go Nagai style here is the mighty Duke Logan◊.
- Endou from Inazuma Eleven achieves this effect with two long locks of hair, one hanging down each side of his head in front of his ears. Each one curves forward a bit before ending in a spike. They're not exactly sideburns, though, in that they seem to only be attached to his head at around forehead height, since they flap around a lot whenever he moves. Another example is Rococo, whose locks curve around behind and under his ears, then end in a spike that somehow points up toward his eyes.
- Team Fortress 2: The very hot-blooded Soldier has a miscellaneous drop that gives him an epic sideburns-mustache combo that also comes with a pipe. And now, with the Mutton Mann, everyone else (except Pyro and Spy, who both wear head-covering masks) can get in on the awesome sideburns action.
- In Theme Hospital, having these (known as 3rd-Degree Sideburns) is considered an unwelcome affliction.
Cause - Wistful longing for the 1970s.
Symptoms - Big hair, flares, platforms and glitter make-up.
Cure - The Psychiatry staff must, using up-to-date techniques, convince the patient that these hairy accoutrements are rubbish.
Webcomics
- Bro in Homestuck sports these, along with Cool Shades, a katana, and one of the most awesome STRIFE techniques ever unleashed.
- Bro's Alpha iteration Dirk Strider also sports these but subverts the Hot-Blooded part.
- Girl Genius:
- Wooster wears a more subtle one, and indeed he is more subtle in his badassery.
- Martellus von Blitzengaard, while badass, is also a terrible person and generally hated - but he does have some rather impressive sideburns.
- Jason from Remus has these, although he seems to be lacking a bit in the Hot-Blooded department.
- Javert in Roommates even if he also lacking in the Hot-Blooded part (normally more Tall, Dark, and Snarky but he has a passionate side, just also high self-control, until someone angers him at least).
- Shempu, one of the four ninjas in The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob! (who are all treated as refugees from Anime Land,) is described by Molly as a Shounen-type with "big fuzzy sideburns."
Western Animation
- Subverted by Spongebob Squarepants. Being a Manchild, when SpongeBob puts on (fake) sideburns to make him look grown-up, the results are ridiculous.
- Keith of Voltron: Legendary Defender rocks a pair of Go Nagai-inspired sideburns to compliment his Hot-Blooded nature. Fitting as the character himself is a throwback to 70's robot pilots like Kenichi Gou and Kazuya Ryuuzaki.
Real Life
- Elvis Presley's iconic look◊ includes a large pair of muttonchops. Of course, Presley is remembered for his censor-defying hip-shaking and swaggering sex appeal.
- Muttonchops are a hallmark of the wild rockabilly musical genre, as well as its many equally wild offshoots, such as psychobilly.
- Now, now, let us not forget the one and only Ambrose Burnside. BEHOLD! Indeed Burnside is where the term 'sideburns' comes from in the first place.
